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Rafael Palacios As Sortes 2016

“Rafael keeps going from strength to strength with his range of Godello whites from Valdeorras.”Luis Gutierrez

Rafael’s wines were one of our best discoveries of last year and dozens of cases found new homes with our clients. Even if you weren’t among these lucky folks, you’ve probably drunk wine from Galicia before and you’ve possibly drunk Godello; but you’ve never had one like this.

Galicia is a typically complex wine region with five different “Denominacions de Orixe”: Monterei, Rias Baixas, Ribeira Sacra, Ribeiro and Valdeorras. It has a variety of climates (Atlantic to Continental) and soil (granite to slate). One of the most interesting of these is Valdeorras, the easternmost wine region of Galicia, where the best vineyards are planted on terraces on the steep sides of the Sil river. Like many other wine regions in Spain, the area is being re-discovered by a new, young generation of talented winemakers, willing to make elegant wine with a sense of place. The two best in Valdeorras are Telmo Rodriguez and Rafael Palacios. Rafael grew up in a wine family and, having left the family estate in 2004, settled in the Val do Bibei part of Valdeorras, where he works with terraced plots of Godello which are locally known as “sorte”, some of which are 720 metres high. All the work in the vineyard as well as the harvest is honed by hand – crippling, but rewarding, work.

“It was Rafael Palacios, As Sortes Godello Valdeorras that first drew to my attention the obvious nobility of this grape variety that combines the structure of white burgundy with the finesse of a juicily mineral grape”Jancis Robinson

Made from a selection of the older vines of each plot, some of which are almost one hundred years old, this wine is a benchmark for Godello. Structure, complexity, intensity, character, freshness... it has it all. This wine is seriously good and at £30 a bottle IB it is hard to believe you will find a better white for the price... Luis Gutierrez has yet to review it in bottle but when tasting it from barrel he gave this comment “that slow ripening might have resulted in the finest vintage to date. I'm looking forward to tasting those wines in bottle!”

We were all very fortunateto taste a bottle today and it is delicious; in our opinion one of the best dry white wines from Spain!

Tasting Notes and Scores

Jancis Robinson

18.5

Very deep straw, and quite a reticent nose but beautiful structure and firmness. This should go on and on. Seems to have taken extra intensity – much tighter than the average Puligny with which I am wont to compare it. Beautifully balanced and sophisticated. Serve with food. Bravissimo!